Thursday, January 31, 2008

An Airy Ta Da! From Tata

Tata Motors, the Indian car company that just flummoxed Greenies because its $2,500 Nano mini-car will actually bring joy and comfort to the poor, may get back in with the alienated Birkenstock bunch with its latest effort, the Air Car.

No, not the Jetson's kind of air car. This one runs on air and emits just air from its tailpipe. The long-distance model adds a gas engine that compresses the air on-board, increasing the range while still getting 130 miles to the gallon.

Tata is licensing the technology from Guy Negre, a French inventor and former Formula One engineer, whose Motor Development International (MDI) has been perfecting the car over the last several years.

The Air Car works similarly to electric cars, but rather than storing electrical energy in a huge, heavy battery, the vehicle converts energy into air pressure and stores it in a tank. According to MDI’s Miguel Celades, Negre’s engine uses compressed air stored at a pressure of 300 bars to pump the pistons, providing a range of around 60 miles per tank at highway speeds. An onboard air compressor can be plugged into a regular outlet at home to recharge the tank in about four hours, or an industrial compressor capable of 3,500 psi (likes those found in scuba shops) can fill it up in a few minutes for around two dollars. Celades says optional gasoline or biofuel hybrid models will heat the pressurized air, increasing the volume available for the pistons and allowing the car to drive for nearly 500 miles between air refills and about 160 miles per gallon of fuel burned.

Here's an Australian TV video on Negre's air car. You'll notice it's a clattery, noisy thing. The second air car featured in the video is even more remarkable; it scoots around quietly, powered by an engine that weighs just 14 pounds.

Tata says it will market the car later this year for about $10,000, but Negre thinks it may take a couple more years before the car actually hits the market.

Against all this put the draconian approaches to global warming favored by John McCain and the (other) Dems. Their desire to limit our economy instead of let it act to create new technologies is symptomatic of Dem Disease, that horrible condition where your mind gets so sick it actually believes that government is superior to individual when it comes to knowing what's best and doing what's best.

Government can be very effective at getting people to stand in line. They've done this; they've gotten practically the entire planet to stand in the line under the "We're freaked out about global warming"' sign.

Now they'll serve the world best by saying, "Gosh, we sure did that well," and leaving the solution to the more creative side of the government/private sector yin-yang.

"Thank you for the "Voice of the Victims films. The students really liked them, and it means so much to them to hear real stories and not watch a cheesy drama like so many other videos."
— High school teacher.